The undeniability of intersectionality
Feb 9th
After many vegan years of decrying only the suffering of animals and languishing in my single-issue bubble, I was lucky enough to have picked up a copy of “The Dreaded Comparison” by Marjorie Spiegel and began the gears turning about the intersectionality of a variety of different struggles against oppression. It seems obvious to me, now, that the consumption of animals stems from the same source of the consumption of women’s bodies and identities; the similarities between the “othering” of people of color, queer people, and animals permits the systematic abuse and murder of these beings across the board. All struggles are one struggle, but I didn’t always think that way. It wasn’t until someone reached out to me — in my case, an author, and later my incredible LOVE co-founders — that the synapses started firing and the bridges were built.
This past weekend, at an organizer’s meeting for an upcoming east coast feminism conference, I was reminded that there are still many bridges to be built and many eyes to be opened. One of my co-organizers brusquely declared that vegetarianism was “not her thing” and that she didn’t really see the link between being a feminist (as she so proudly branded herself) and being a vegetarian. I gently tried to guide her down the road less traveled — pointing out the power and oppression in the relationships between man/woman and human/non-human; connecting reproductive justice for human women with the abuse of dairy cows and chickens in the name of human consumption of products of their reproductive systems; the “less-than-human” portrayal of women of color in the media and how that hierarchy serves to keep both those women and the animals in submission — but was met with a brick wall of resistance.
I was reminded also of how this single-issue focus is often pushed in the agendas of mainstream political and social justice organizations. In my time as an employee of one such animal welfare corporation, I was often encouraged not to engage people on topics other than animal welfare while doing outreach, in an effort to not seem too far outside of the mainstream. The vegan world I envision, however, does not incorporate the elimination of only one type of oppression, but instead the elimination of them ALL; I am not about to sell my people up the river to the benefit of my other people. Zoe Weil writes in a 2005 Satya article about being appalled by activists who consume a plant-based diet but do not extend their support to other movements. I’ve felt this same sort of disbelief in rooms full of all sorts of different types of activists, and have consequently made it my goal to cross-pollinate these ideas amongst different groups who may not yet have been considering the connectedness of it all.
I am not suggesting that everyone needs to devote their every waking moment to fighting every fight, but I -am- saying that it’s not too much to ask of people to be conscious of all of the struggles happening around the globe. They are inextricably linked, and they all deserve our awareness. I hardly think that this constitutes “asking too much” or being too far removed from the average person to be relateable — just as I don’t agree with a prevalent, popular opinion that asking people to adopt a vegan lifestyle is “too much.”
I wonder if any other collective members have experienced anything similar? Do you have any suggestions for effective communication styles or tactical approaches to introducing the issues of other movements to the movement which you feel most connected? Is there a “right” way to promote intersectionality and the idea that all struggles are one struggle?
about 3 years ago
Great post, Jenna. I’ve definitely come to see the interconnection a lot, too. Now I’m always surprised when others don’t see it. I agree that this is an important part of the work to be done yet.
I read a post on Vegans of Color once that posed a similar question as your conclusion paragraph. The post itself and some of the comments shared resources that people have found helpful in pointing out intersectionality. Here is the link:
“Explaining Racism to White Veg*ns & Speciesism to Non-Veg*n POCs”
http://vegansofcolor.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/explaining-racism-to-white-vegns-speciesism-to-non-vegn-pocs/
about 3 years ago
I was once speaking with a woman of color I know with a long history of involvement in the civil rights movement. When I told her I was working for an animal welfare corporation, she told me she was reminded of and agreed with an activist she greatly admired, who had said on a radio show, “Only when the last child in Darfur is safe and has been fed will I even begin to care about animals.” A real slap in the face!
When I think about your co-organizer and this woman I know, I wonder whether their particular understandings of feminism and civil rights would offer a common basis for understanding speciesist oppression. If so in the case of your co-organizer, I wonder what the resistance was about.
On the flip side, I wonder if part of the problem is how the reasoning for plant-based diets has historically been framed. The dominant arguments live in a world completely separate from the concerns of those involved in anti-oppression work in the human animal realm. So when we talk about veganism or plant-based diets, even from an anti-oppression understanding, is that historical baggage coloring what people hear?
The VoC post on explaining racism to white vegans is great. There seems to be a precondition of the other person being interested in exploring their own racist conditioning and I’m curious if there is anything that may be done to help bring this about.
about 3 years ago
In reply to Zoe Weil’s comment in the blog entry, generally speaking, the vast majority of members of other movements violate the moral baseline of the animal rights movement by consuming animal products. The reverse is not true: the vast majority of animal rights vegans do NOT violate the moral baselines of any other movement. I don’t ask members of other movements to actively support animal rights; I only ask that they don’t violate our moral baseline. Going vegan is not the most we can do, but the least we can do.
I’ve written more about this topic in an essay entitled, On the Strengths and Limitations of Alliance Politics:
http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.com/2008/11/on-strengths-and-limitations-of.html
about 3 years ago
Hi Dan,
Thanks so much for your thoughts regarding this issue and your detailed writings on this and other relevant topics. I have to disagree with you regarding the blanket statement that “the vast majority of animal rights vegans do NOT violate the moral baselines of any other movement” because I truly think it’s more complex than that. The issues of racism and sexism, for example, are often so deeply ingrained in cultural norms, language, and attitudes that unless we actively work against them, it’s nearly impossible to say that we avoid them altogether. I’ve encountered both individuals and groups in my time as a vegan activist who actively promoted racist, sexist, and heterosexist ideals, both intentionally and unintentionally. I don’t think that animal activists are any less likely than the average person to be guilty of these violations of moral baselines.
Unless vegans, just like other members of the population, are actively exploring the issues of “other movements,” we cannot make the claim that we are immune to violating them, simply because we choose not to use animals without their consent. It will take an immense amount of education, awareness, and cooperation to bring to light all of the forms of oppression on the parts of all activists. In my post, I am simply committing to solidarity with everyone working for social justice and toward a vegan world, and encouraging others to do the same.
about 3 years ago
Jenna,
I agree with what you wrote, both in the original blog entry and in your reply to my comment, but I should correct and clarify some things about my comment. I regret the wording in my previous comment. It was written rather quickly and carelessly.
First, my phrase “animal rights vegans” is so vague as to be virtually meaningless given that ‘animal rights’ these days, in the common parlance, means everything and therefore nothing.
Second, I was thinking more of a small group of vegans I know who have examined and see clearly the connections of racism, sexism, and speciesism. My statement, as you say, was too sweeping, since I’m sure there are racist and sexist vegans (vegans who participate in certain PETA campaigns could be called sexist, for example).
Third, and most importantly, I was thinking of the *extreme* speciesism that is such a big part of about 98.5% of society. Extreme racism would be the promotion of and battle for chattel slavery. Extreme sexism would be the insistence of women as nothing more than the property of men, where men have property rights over women and women no rights. Extreme speciesism is the view of sentient nonhumans as nothing more than the property and resource of humans as manifested in the consumption of animal products.
Vegans, to the best of my knowledge, do not promote or defend any form of extreme racism or sexism. Rather, if vegans are guilty of racism or sexism, it is generally in the form of moderate (at most) or subtle racism or sexism. The moderate or subtle form certainly doesn’t excuse it in the least, and I regularly argue against the most subtle forms of either; nevertheless, there is a significant difference between the extreme versus the moderate and subtle forms.
My observation is that many (or most) feminists, civil rights advocates, and environmentalists promote and adamantly argue for extreme speciesism by viewing animals as property and resources for humans, thereby violating a moral baseline. A moral baseline is a minimum standard – the least we can do, so to speak – to avoid extreme forms of the “-ism” in question. Veganism is such a moral baseline. Vegans, even vegans who believe they are not speciesist, can (and often do) hold speciesist views and attitudes, often unwittingly, but in their veganism, they at least avoid the extreme speciesism of which non-vegans are victims.
I hope that clears things up a little.